Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg could soon learn the hard way that House Republicans are not playing around when it comes to cracking down on Big Tech censorship. Now that they're in the majority, they're able to actually do something about it. On Monday, Fox Business reported that House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) is considering holding Zuckerberg in contempt, potentially as early as next week. Sources familiar with the situation confirmed as much to Townhall.
"Sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell FOX Business that Meta – formerly known as Facebook – has not provided any internal communications regarding the company’s censorship efforts," the report indicated.
As the ranking member and now as chairman, Jordan has been looking to get to the bottom of such censorship even before Republicans took control after last year's November midterm elections. During the previous session of Congress, Jordan, at times along with his Republican colleagues, sent Zuckerberg a letter on July 22, 2021, on March 31, 2022 about censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop, on September 1, 2022 also about the Hunter Biden laptop, and on December 14, 2022.
In that letter from last December, Jordan provided Zuckerberg with a preview of sorts.
"In addition, House Republicans have written a number of prior letters to you in attempts to obtain relevant information. You have not provided responses that have satisfied our concerns or produced the requested documents or information," the letter reminded. "Committee Republicans will continue to pursue these matters, including into the 118th Congress if necessary."
Now House Republicans have promises to keep, and the power to hold Zuckerberg, and others, accountable. Not long after the new Congress was sworn in earlier this year in January, Jordan issued Meta a subpoena for censorship documentation in February. What the company sent was not good enough, though, as Fox explained:
Jordan, who ascended to the top position on the powerful House Judiciary Committee earlier this year, has aggressively targeted the Big Tech giant for internal documents since serving in the minority on the committee last Congress.
After Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in January, the Judiciary Committee – led by Jordan – officially issued Meta a subpoena for censorship documentation in February of this year .
In May, Jordan followed up with Meta to warn that the company’s response was insufficient, failing to comply with the subpoena request for internal communications among Meta employees.
The report quoted a letter in which Jordan was clear that "If Meta fails to comply in full with the subpoena’s demands, the Committee may be forced to consider the use of one or more enforcement mechanisms."
That has now indeed been confirmed to mean contempt.
The committee is seeking "internal meeting notes or discussions of government statements, requests, referrals, or recommendations related to content moderation, including certain documents commemorating findings and/or recommendations regarding whether to apply enforcement actions to purported disinformation."
What Meta has provided has not to the committee's liking:
A Meta spokesperson, when reached for comment by FOX Business, stated in response, "We have shared over 50,000 pages of documents in response to the committee’s request and have made nearly a dozen current and former employees available to discuss external and internal issues. We look forward to continuing to work with the committee moving forward."
Indeed, while Meta thus far has provided documents and responses to the committee, none of them include the specified internal communications Jordan is asking for, a source with direct knowledge tells FOX Business.
With new projects from Meta, such as the Threads app as a sort of competition with Twitter, comes new concerns for censorship. Jordan earlier on Monday also sent a letter to Zuckerberg informing the Meta CEO that the material they have asked for in that February 15 subpoena letter includes content related to Threads.
"Given that Meta has censored First Amendment-protected speech as a result of government agencies' requests and demands in the past, the Committee is concerned about potential First Amendment violations that have occurred or will occur on the Threads platform," the letter indicated.
Such concerns for Big Tech censorship are playing out as the Biden administration faces legal battles for using Big Tech to censor on Americans, with Missouri v. Biden.
"In fact, on July 4, 2023, a federal court held that the government’s collusion with and coercion of social media platforms to censor disfavored speech appeared to have violated the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights, and issued a preliminary injunction against government defendants. The court recognized that Meta played a central role in this censorship scheme, frequently acquiescing and catering to the government's requests and demands," the letter noted.
Jordan's letter provides an end game to investigating such censorship. "Congress has an important interest in protecting and advancing fundamental free speech principles," it explains. "To develop effective legislation, such as the possible enactment of new statutory limits on the Executive Branch’s ability to work with technology companies to restrict the circulation of content and deplatform users, the Committee on the Judiciary must first understand how and to what extent the Executive Branch coerced and colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor speech."
Is Mark Zuckerberg’s “Threads” already working with the federal government to censor Americans? pic.twitter.com/OdQeq1mCHQ
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 17, 2023